The Census Bureau says Montana has grown 10 percent over the
past decade, and would soon break 1 million people. Barely. How can a state spanning 150,000
square miles, the fourth largest in the union, seem full with “only” a million
people? Well, some days it does.

You won’t see the bumper sticker on the Governor’s Suburban.
He was ebullient at the idea of Montana breaking the million-soul mark. Booster-in-Chief Brian Schweitzer
said, "People from all over the world recognize that Montana is the best
place to start and grow a small business, raise a family and build a
community."

Well, maybe. But remember, the winters
are brutal here. Brutal. Bugs in the summer? You can’t go outside without
packing a pint of plasma. Wolves have eaten all the deer and elk, too, and will
go after your toddler next.

Maybe I need to keep this in
perspective. Japan is almost
exactly the same size as Montana and has 127 times more people. Still, mass
urbanization is not the kind of future I look forward to.

Is Montana
growing? Depends where you look. Over
the past couple decades, the mountainous western part of the state – the land
of national parks and national forests, rugged peaks and cold rivers and lakes
– has been attracting both immigrants from out of state and those migrating
from other parts of the Treasure State. Populations are generally growing on
Indian reservations, as well. The central part of the state – for example communities around Great
Falls and Helena – have roughly held steady. The eastern part of the state, the
Big Open between Malta and Miles City, is bleeding youth. A long-anticipated energy
boom might change that temporarily but the long-term trend is clear.

The rub
is that the things that make Montana great – and attractive to businesses that
Gov. Schweitzer is so eager to attract – are fragile. Open space. Sparkling
clean lakes. Abundant wildlife. Uncrowded hiking trails and fishing streams. Towns where the
people say please and thank you and motorists stop to let you cross the street.

We’ve all seen other
communities eat themselves alive as they pursue a greasy buck and growth for sake of growth. The trick is,
how does Montana grow in ways that maintain the very traits that make it special?

I've spent plenty of
time in places where folks follow the traffic reports like we track weather
reports. In 20 years in Montana, I’ve never uttered the excuse “Sorry,
I was stuck in traffic.”

Growth? I suppose.
Jobs? Absolutely. But remember: Montanans like Montana the way it is. The
changing seasons are about the only change people embrace around here.

Ben Long struggles to
pull up the drawbridge leading to Kalispell, Mont., where he is senior program
director for Resource Media.